Subaru’s Award-Winning Electric Car

12 Jan 2007

Subaru doesn’t get many mentions on Green-Car-Guide, which is a shame as the company has some excellent products – just not very economical ones! However a real piece of green news from Subaru is their R1e electric car – it has a 62 mph top speed, a 50 mile range, and it can be recharged in just 15 minutes.

The city car is a 2+2, it weighs just 870 kg, and has a high-density lithium-ion battery with a high-speed charger able to charge the battery to 80 per cent capacity in just 15 minutes. The vehicle can be initially charged for eight hours at home then fast-charged during the day if required.

Subaru say that daytime charging costs are half that of a typical hybrid car and if cheaper night-time electricity is used, recharging is a staggering one-fifth less than for a hybrid.

The battery life is at least 10 years or 124,000-plus miles.

Subaru’s pioneering work in developing the R1e has attracted a top award from Japan’s Minister of the Environment for helping prevent global warming.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company now plans to have 3,000 electric vehicles running within five years supported by 150 fast-charge stations. And as a consumer incentive, there will also be a 90 per cent reduction in car tax and purchase tax plus discounted parking and highway fees.

Meanwhile, Subaru aims to spread its ground-breaking technology by licensing to other manufacturers.

We’re waiting to hear when will we see this technology in a Subaru in the UK…